$5 DIY Chevron Frame

I was at Lowes the other day (you’re shocked, I’m sure), for something totally unrelated, and just HAD to walk down the aisle with all the wood, moldings, you know the one. I never imagined myself thoroughly enjoying looking at this kind of stuff, but ideas pop into my head more when I’m in that aisle than anywhere else. Like this piece of wood I spotted:

It cost less than $5. The wheels started turning, and I thought maybe I could paint it white, do some stripes, and attach a picture in the center and make a large frame for next to nothing. I knew just the picture, and just the place to hang it – my master bedroom. And then I got the idea, maybe chevron stripes! Yes! This is the stuff that happens to me at Lowes. Who knew?

So I sanded it just a tad, then primed it, and gave it a white coat of flat spray paint. Then I googled painting chevron, and got zillions of results, all well thought out, detailed, precise directions. I don’t do well with well thought out or precise. I got T-2 hours until the kiddos awake, so I just got a ruler, a pencil, and drew my own. No measuring whatsoever, so I don’t recommend you copying my methods if you want everything exact, but that stuff doesn’t phase me for some reason. I’m a weirdo, I know;)

I eyeballed it, and it was good enough for me! I did erase a couple lines that were drastically wide/thin/uneven, but for the most part they’re pretty close. And it went a whole heckuva lot quicker!

Then I got my angled brush and a leftover paint sample I had (Valspar Lament Blue – GORGE!), and filled in the stripes.

Then while it was drying, I got my picture ready. I had just ordered a bunch of prints from Shutterfly, and in the bunch was this 8 x 10 shot of Paul and me at the beach this summer:

*A little tip: This photo was in color, and not as zoomed in. When you order it, you can crop it how ever you like, make it black and white, sepia, whatever, in just a click. So easy. This is what that photo originally looked like:

Wouldn’t look nearly as good in my bedroom in its original state, but changing it to black and white, and zooming it, it’s a totally different picture. And you get rid of the condos in the back too.

So the frame I have it in is from the Dollar Tree! I chose it because, well, you can’t beat a buck first of all, but it’s also SO light, so it’s not like I have to mount a super heavy frame, and pray it never falls. This one, all you have to do is use your glue gun and (I’m assuming – it’s only been a day;) lol) it’ll stay put. Just be sure to remove that piece that’s on the back to hold the picture up on a tabletop, so it’s nice and flush:

This is what it looked like when I was done.

Or so I thought.

Silly me thought it might look better if I distressed it a bit, give it an ol’ beachy feel perhaps…so I got out a piece of sandpaper and got to work.

Should’ve left well enough alone on this one, I think. I like the un-distressed version a lot more. Oh well.

But this got the wheels moving…there are ENDLESS possibilities with the whole piece of wood/frame idea. You could do two of these guys next to each other, maybe over your bed, or if you have a large wall above your couch, and a few kids, you could do one large picture of each of them, even paint each one a different color. You could do thick horizontal stripes, or vertical, or a stencil…or I was even wondering about mod podging some beautiful cardstock onto it. And the pictures can have options too – you could do a much larger picture on there, like a 16×20, or two centered on top of one another (or next to)…SO many choices! I was thinking about freehanding with my Sharpie paint markers our favorite quote, or simply writing the word “us,” but in the end decided to let it be.

So for about $5, I’ve filled a pretty big chunk of our bedroom wall. Even if I do think I botched it at the end with the whole distressing thing. Oh well, for that price, I can start over, right?!